case study

Shoeby's new app triples conversion rates

After launching their first shopping app in 2016 with mixed results. Shoeby recently moved to the Highstreet app platform. The results surprised them. Read their story.

In early 2016 Shoeby built their very first web-based mobile app. Initially, the app was a hit with Shoeby fans who downloaded the app in droves to shop at one of their favorite brands. But in the long run, results were not as good as Shoeby had hoped. Their customers were buying, but not enough and rewarded the app with 2.5-star reviews on average. Developed in-house with an agency Shoeby also struggled to keep their app updated with the continuous stream of new mobile technology. As Shoeby saw the potential they decided to move from an app based on web technology to a fully native experience that served their customers even better. The Highstreet Mobile platform allowed them to switch to such an experience in just a few months. The upgrade instantly resulted in an average of 4,7-star reviews and tripled their conversion rates. Now, Shoeby is growing their mobile business faster than ever.

"During the sales process Highstreet promised to double our conversion rates. Now, six months later, I am very happy to say they underpromised; the app is doing even better. Really impressive results."

Mitch van DeursenE-commerce director Shoeby

Shoeby - a family brand

Shoeby is a fashion retailer founded in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, in 1981 by the Van Deursen family. They have grown to more than 230 stores in the Netherlands and offer trendy fashion to more than 700.000 loyal fans. Their vision is to put all focus on their customers by offering them personalised style advice and keeping them 100% satisfied. They strive to not only offer service via their stores and webshop, but also through the most personal device we own: our smartphone.

What todays customers expect from Shoeby

When Shoeby launched their first mobile app they had a slow start. Their sales were promising but not great and they received customer satisfaction rates of less than 3-stars. Not the flying start that Mitch van Deursen, the E-commerce Director of Shoeby was hoping for.

Despite these results, it proved one thing: customers want to use mobile apps for shopping. Over the next two years Shoeby invested heavily to continually improve their app with new features and to stay compatible with evolving technology. The industry was moving fast and eventually it was too challenging to keep up with the constant change. Shoeby realised that an app is never finished. It is a commitment that comes with continuous development costs and pressure to stay innovative. Ultimately, he felt that this was taking them further away from doing what they do best: offering the best fashion advice and service to their customers.

An app-as-a-service

Late 2017 Shoeby knew they needed to do something different. They started reviewing the apps of other fashion brands. This is when they came across Highstreet, a native app-as-a-service platform that powers the apps of brands like Scotch & Soda, PME Legend, Marlies Dekkers and many more. Brands using the platform benefit from a feature-rich and high quality fashion app from the launch, without having the burden of developing and maintaining an app themselves. The platform offers a continuous stream of features which are rolled out bi-weekly to all brands on the platform. Furthermore Shoeby noticed that Highstreet apps are highly appreciated by end-users with 4.7 stars (out of 5) in the App Store. So they decided to move to the platform as well.

Conversion previous app versus Highstreet app

Conversion and revenue growing many times over since Shoeby moved to the Highstreet platform

Results of the New Shoeby app

Switching to a new technology platform is always an exciting moment. Will it work? What are the results going to be? For Shoeby, they were almost instant. Within days after replacing the old custom app with Highstreet’s platform solution, conversion rates tripled and customers started giving 4 and 5-star reviews. Six months after the launch the results continued to improve. Having gathered more than 2.000 reviews with an average of 4,7 stars in the App Store, their customers were visibly happy with the change. Conversion rates also continued to increase and drove top line revenue growth month over month. Shoeby’s customers are buying more products and are more frequently doing so through the app.

Customer ratings (April 2019)

About Highstreet

Keeping up with technology is a challenge not unique to Shoeby. Many fashion brands are faced with similar development hurdles which are slowing them down. At Highstreet, we ensure that brands don’t have need to worry anymore about development or innovation. We take care of that for them so that they can do what they do best: keeping their customers satisfied. From the tiniest details to innovative feature updates. It’s our mission to set a new standard for mobile shopping.

Download the Shoeby app

The best experience for your best customers. The Shoeby app has an average rating of 4.7 stars. Download the app for iOS or Android and see for yourself.

Interested in Highstreet?

We help brands connect to their fans through fantastic mobile retails apps. If you’re interested to learn more, please use the buttons below to contact us.